Charisma Connection

If you battle with depression, fight alcohol or drug habits or endured trauma in your past, you are not alone. Millions of Americans face mental health challenges every day.

Dr. Dave Hoskins visits with host Chris Johnson to discuss how Florida's Honey Lake Clinic (honeylake.clinic) serves people in need from around the country. "Dr. Dave" also reflects on how the church treats believers when they have mental or emotional health issues. Listen to learn more about this expanding top-rated mental health clinic.

Volunteers are critical to every local church. Author Christina Angelakos brings her strategic leadership training to Volunteer University, a growing church program that understands the value of volunteers and their need for training appropriate to their personalities and skills. Her book, Volunteer, helps church volunteers serve with excellence, whether they are parking lot attendants, children's workers or security guards. Angelakos visits with host Chris Johnson in the Charisma Podcast Network studio.

Born in communist East Germany, Sven Lauch was 15 when the unthinkable happened. The Berlin Wall fell, opening the East to the West. He found himself in a state of shock and realized overnight that his worldview was a lie. As a young man, life in East Germany was good, or so he thought. But his parents later admitted that they had had to live under 24-hour surveillance. On the lighter side of life, Lauch enjoyed going to coffee shops, and that led him to a youth cafe and a Christian camp. Eventually he was saved. Listen as host Chris Johnson talks with Lauch about how the fall of the Berlin Wall exposed his inner walls and how Jesus made a difference in his life.

Should I defend myself and my family? Should we simply obey whatever the government demands, or are there biblical alternatives?Thoughtful Christians often ask these questions. Author Larry Fox tackles these two controversial subjects in his book A Biblical Perspective of Self-Defense and Civil Disobedience, an in-depth study of the Scriptures that offers Scripture-based insights on self-defense and civil disobedience. If you ever struggled with these issues, listen to this episode as host Chris Johnson engages the author in a meaningful discussion on how self-defense and civil disobedience affects the Christian's life at home and in society. 

"Part of me didn't grow up," VeggieTales co-creator Phil Vischer tells stand-in host Taylor Berglund in this episode of Charisma Connection. Many kids and their parents are glad for that because Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are now back with 18 Scripture-based episodes, this time on TBN. Vischer also shares about his brand-new Laugh and Learn Bible for Kids.

The apostle Paul prepared well for the ministry, but he also continued in the tent-making trade. Today, for various reasons, many pastors also have a marketplace ministry. Now Master's International University of Divinity has partnered with Columbia Southern University to offer a combined graduate program that provides ministerial and business training. Listen as Master's International University President Dr. Dennis Frey discusses this new concept in ministry education with host Chris Johnson.

Worship pastor Andrew Bullins may be from the North Carolina home of Andy Griffith, but he wants his city to be known more for a Holy Spirit outpouring than for a famous actor. Walking in the Spirit combined with growing in the Word has become the focus of Bullins' life, but it wasn't always that way. To help believers mature in their faith walk, he has written a highly applicable devotional titled "I Have Decided: 31 Decisions For Your Christian Walk." Listen to this in-studio episode with host Chris Johnson and decide today to move forward in your relationship with Jesus.

Bestselling author and Bible teacher Dee Brestin has studied the Scriptures and led others in Bible study for years. But even with her rich experience, Jesus still surprises her in her own life and through His Word. His story is woven through the Old and New Testaments, and she helps us "spy Jesus" wherever He is in the Bible and in our lives. Brestin shares the delight of seeing Jesus through the eyes of a new believer, the fruit of her husband's prayer for his children as he neared the end of his life and many more powerful stories. Listen as host Chris Johnson asks her to share how Jesus still surprises her.

What must it be like to have a family member in prison? Far too many spouses and families know the pain and helplessness of seeing a loved one behind bars. Thankfully, there are ministries like Kairos Prison Ministry International with volunteers who give of their time regularly to care for prisoners and their families. Kairos CEO Evelyn Lemly joins host Chris Johnson to share how this successful ministry meets the spiritual and emotional needs of this population.

The nation of Israel was born in a day in May 1948, but it took the involvement of President Harry Truman, a Jewish businessman and others to bring to pass the rebirth of a homeland for the Jewish people. Listen as Craig von Buseck, author of I Am Cyrus: Harry S. Truman and the Rebirth of Israel, shares how President Truman was convinced to support the new nation by his Jewish friend. Dr. von Buseck's book is a biography of the Zionist movement.